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To Rotimi Amaechi, who is still not sure who he is
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By Ikeddy Isiguzo
CHIBUIKE Rotimi Amaechi is lost in minor crowds if there is no major controversy around him. The most recent is his prevarication over whether he is Igbo or Ikwerre. Are both identities not mutually exclusive? Some have noticed Amaechi in more Igbo outfits these days. Everything counts.
Amaechi is from Umuordu, Ubima, Ikwerre Local Government Area, Rivers State. There is no doubt about that much. A State of Rivers’ standing would not have had a “foreigner” as Speaker of its House of Assembly for eight years and Chairman of the Conference of Speakers. If being the Speaker was a mistake, Amaechi would not have been awarded the governorship of the State for eight years.
He promoted himself to national prominence with his controversial roles as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum. Cracks in the fold cascaded to the departure of some governors who won elections under Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC. Amaechi was a proud leader of the movement.
APC’s victory in the 2015 elections and in 2019 further raised Amaechi’s status. On both occasions, he was the Director-General of President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign. His national prominent has failed to improve his fortunes in the politics of Rivers. He could not gain victory for his proposed successor in 2015. The 2019 election was an utter disaster.
Wrangling over APC leadership in Rivers resulted in multiple primaries going to the 2019 elections. The courts, including the Supreme Court, ruled that none of the primaries met conditions for the selection of the party’s candidates for the election.
Amaechi quickly extricated himself from the loss that shut APC out of chances of winning at least some seats in the state and national legislatures.
What has not proven easy is which of his identifies he would use. He appears to prefer wearing different hats to match occasions, situational identity. At his 2015 Senate screening, he identified himself as an Ikwerre prince. He dressed in that role, he told Senators.
Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe was one of the earliest to officially question Amaechi’s Igboness. He had wondered why Amaechi left out South East in the rails projects of the Federal Government. Amaechi retorted that his name, Amaechi, was easier for Igbo speakers to make meaning of, than Abaribe. His claims about the South East being in the rails projects are yet to be seen.
When in March 2018, he delivered the Convocation Lecture at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, his otherwise important lecture titled, ‘The Igbo In The Politics Of Nigeria’, his identity was a major distraction. It was a thought-provoking delivery laced with provocative darts at the Igbo.
“It is high time they (Igbo) came into national politics. They are completely out of national politics, and it will not pay them. If Igbo are not found in national politics, it will be to the detriment of their children. I don’t know what they will do now for voting against the APC. For refusing to support the APC, they cannot come to the table to demand the presidency slot,” he said during the question and answer session.
The reference to Igbo as “they” is noteworthy. He had a verbal confrontation with Nnia Nwodo, then president-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, at the event. Nwodo, in his remarks, kept on telling Amaechi to inform his people, the Ikwerre, that the civil war was over; they should return to being Igbo. Amaechi remarkably began his lecture by asserting he was Igbo. He said it was his undeniable heritage.
Six years earlier at a public event in Abiriba, when Amaechi was still in PDP and governor, he had protested being addressed as an illustrious Igbo son. “I am Ikwerre,” he corrected then 78-year-old Chief Joe Irukwu, a former President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. Many in the gathering were taken aback.
“For people like us in the APC, if the Igbo had come and voted Buhari, they would boldly tell Mr. President and the National Chairman of the party that presidency should go the South East since the South-South; South-West and North-West have produced President. What argument would the South-East come up with now to convince anybody that they deserve the slot for 2023 President?,” Amaechi asked in an interview he granted after the 2019 election.
His claim to being Igbo is seasonal. “I am a bona fide Igbo man. My name is Amaechi, but President Jonathan who says his name is Azikiwe cannot speak the Igbo Language. He says his name is Ebele; let him speak Igbo and let us see,” he said at APC’s campaign in Aba in January 2015. The choice of who he is was not his to make. Our origins are hereditary. Our rejection of them makes no difference to the fact of who we are, by birth.
What does it matter if Amaechi wants to be Igbo instead of Ikwerre or the other way round? It is important to politicians angling for the South-East to produce a President in 2023. While their campaign is for an Igbo President, or a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction, it is convenient for them to forget there are indigenous Igbo populations in Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Kogi, and Rivers States. They are finding out that they are really fighting for a President from the South-East.
The President’s ally, Amaechi, stands a better chance than those who feel he is crowding the field.
The advantage remains Amaechi’s if he gets busy with building the rails in the South-East as he promised he would. There is little time left.
Now that the President’s busy schedule accommodates naming rail stations, one is fascinated by the station in Enugu being named after President Muhammadu Buhari. Trains running in the South-East – and Amaechi’s South-South – should be a more pressing issue than whether Amaechi is Igbo or Ikwerre. Many would not care whichever he is if he gets the trains running. And would that not count as competence for Amaechi, in line with Mamman Daura’s prescription?
Amaechi does not have to be Igbo or Ikwerre to run for President in 2023. There is no such constitutional requirement. Unless he has forgotten, Amaechi can just run as a Port Harcourt Boy (thanks, Duncan Mighty). Even Governor Nyesom Wike would not deny Amaechi being a Port Harcourt Boy.
.First published in 2022, is republished now that Amaechi is still in search of his identity.
By Gloria Ikibah
A member of the House of Representatives, Rep. Kolawole Akinlayo, has urged the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to strictly apply the provisions of the Electoral Act in resolving the controversy surrounding the party’s primary election for Ekiti North Federal Constituency II.
Akinlayo, who represents Moba/Ilejemeje/Ido Osi Federal Constituency in the House, made the appeal while speaking with journalists in Abuja on Sunday, following a petition he submitted to the APC National Chairman and the party’s National Assembly Appeal Committee over the outcome of the primary election held on 16 May.
The lawmaker argued that compliance with Section 88(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026, as well as the APC Constitution, is essential to safeguarding the credibility of the party’s internal democratic process ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He maintained that the rule of law should take precedence over political considerations, warning that any departure from the Electoral Act could weaken confidence in the party’s candidate selection process and expose the APC to avoidable legal disputes.
Akinlayo also challenged the eligibility of the aspirant declared winner of the primary, Kunle Ibrahim, contending that he did not meet the legal requirements to contest the election.
According to the lawmaker, Ibrahim was still serving as a Special Assistant in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation at the time the primary was conducted and remained on the government payroll until May 2026.
He insisted that the party should carefully review the facts surrounding the matter and ensure that its final decision is consistent with both the Electoral Act and its own constitution to protect the integrity of the nomination process.
Akinlayo argued that Ibrahim’s participation violated Section 88(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which provides that:
“A political appointee at any level shall not be a voting delegate or be voted for during party conventions, congresses or primaries of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.”
Citing the Supreme Court’s decision in Tukur v. Mustapha (2023), the federal lawmaker contended that political appointees seeking elective office must first resign their appointments before participating in party primaries.
“The purported winner is not qualified to participate in the primary election by virtue of Section 88(1) and his participation, in the eyes of the law, is a nullity ab initio,” he argued.
Beyond the issue of eligibility, Akinlayo alleged that the primary election was marred by widespread irregularities in several wards across the constituency.
Akinlayo further alleged that the primary election was marred by widespread irregularities, including the absence of voter accreditation in some polling areas, inflated vote figures in others, voter suppression and disruption of the exercise in locations where he claimed to enjoy significant support.
He also accused certain local government and party officials of compromising the integrity of the process by serving as returning officers despite having vested interests in the outcome of the election.
Citing the alleged violations, the lawmaker called on the APC leadership to apply the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act by disqualifying Kunle Ibrahim from the contest on the grounds of ineligibility and recognising him as the lawful winner, having emerged second in the primary.
As an alternative, he urged the party’s National Assembly Appeal Committee to cancel the results from the affected wards and order a fresh primary election restricted to aspirants who meet the legal requirements.
The dispute has emerged as one of the earliest major internal challenges facing the APC ahead of the 2027 general elections, with the party expected to conclude its appeal process before forwarding the names of its candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The controversy has also renewed attention on Section 88 of the Electoral Act, 2026, which reflects provisions contained in the Electoral Act, 2022 concerning the participation of political appointees in party primaries. The issue has repeatedly come before the courts, with the Supreme Court affirming in Tukur v. Mustapha that political appointees must resign their appointments before contesting or participating in party primaries as either aspirants or delegates.
The decision of the APC’s appeal panel is expected to determine who eventually flies the party’s flag in the 2027 House of Representatives election for Ekiti North Federal Constituency II.
A helicopter crash in Saudi Arabia killed 14 Saudi citizens on Sunday, the kingdom’s official press agency reported, adding that the aircraft belonged to state oil giant Aramco.
The Saudi Press Agency, citing an official at the energy ministry, reported the helicopter crashed in Ras Tanura in the country’s east.
“The accident claimed the lives of all 14 passengers, all Saudi citizens,” the agency said, adding that an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the crash.
Aramco says it operates more than 60 aircraft, including helicopters serving more than 300 heliports in Saudi Arabia, making it one of the largest corporate fleets in the region.
The deadly accident comes as oil-rich Gulf nations seek to ramp up their output following Iranian attacks and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the export of oil and gas.
The Gulf monarchy did not indicate the incident was in any way connected to a hostile attack.
During the Middle East war, Iranian attacks had targeted energy facilities in the Gulf.
Ras Tanura is home to one of the largest refineries in the Middle East, with a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day, and is critical to Saudi Arabia’s energy sector.
The refinery has been targeted several times, notably during an Iranian drone attack at the beginning of the conflict, which caused a fire and forced a partial shutdown.
Riyadh said in April that the weeks-long attacks had disrupted several production operations at key facilities, with refineries in Ras Tanura as well as Jubail, Yanbu and Riyadh targeted.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading crude exporter, produces a little over 10 million bpd.
AFP
An Improvised Explosive Device, IED, planted by alleged bandits along the Kurawa–Sabon Birni road in Sokoto State on Sunday hit a vehicle, killing one person and injuring many passengers.
The incident raised fresh concerns over the growing use of explosive devices by criminal groups operating in parts of the North-West.
The vehicle was said to be conveying passengers from surrounding communities to Sabon Birni when it ran over the explosive device, triggering a blast that severely damaged the vehicle and left several occupants injured.
A security analyst based in the area, Bashir Guyawa, disclosed the incident in a post on his Facebook page.
Guyawa described the incident as another reminder of the persistent security challenges confronting communities along the border axis.
He said the vehicle was on a routine passenger trip when the explosion occurred.
“The vehicle was conveying passengers early this morning on their way to Sabon Birni when the unfortunate incident happened,” he wrote.
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